This invention relates to a technology of generating a mobile agent which moves to a remote server existing on a network and forms an instruction in said remote server in a distributed computer environment; and, more particularly, to a technology of generating a mobile agent on a GUI builder in an environment in which an executing address, executing sequence, etc. are visibly apprehensible.
The prior art includes mobile agent technology in which a mobile agent moves to a server on a network and causes an instruction to be executed at the server (See, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 5,603,031, and xe2x80x9cLatest Internet Technologyxe2x80x9d by Fumihiko Nishida and Susumu Fujiwara, Nikkei Communication Separate Volume, Nikkei BP, pp 104-117). Such a mobile agent consists of two basic elements, a xe2x80x9cmobile agentxe2x80x9d component and a xe2x80x9cplacexe2x80x9d component. The mobile agent is capable of moving from place to place existing on a network while holding its own internal condition and is capable of contacting another agent (a mobile agent or a non-mobile agent) in the place to which it has moved to obtain a necessary service. The xe2x80x9cplacexe2x80x9d is the location to which a mobile agent has moved and which is provided by a server existing on a network to support a contact between agents and to absorb any differences between hardwares and platforms.
Such mobile agent technology enables a mobile agent to do a job which was so far done manually, such as dynamically adjusting a schedule of an internal conference depending on the schedule of employees or reservation status of a conference room, and acquiring desired information which is distributed on the network, etc.
However, because it is indispensable to define an executing address of an executed job in the property, and such requires knowledge of an object oriented programming, it is desired to have a GUI builder which enables a user to easily generate a mobile agent in a manner similar to the development supporting tool provided by Workflow Automation (xe2x80x9cWorkflow Automationxe2x80x9d is a trademark of Ultimus LLC, information is available on the world wide web at ultimus1.com).
Further, there exists the technology for automatically classifying a complicated behavior of the mobile agent into basic behavior patterns, for providing a template (moderator template) defining a desired behavior pattern of the mobile agent by a combination of the basic behavior patterns, and for controlling the issuance of a request in each place where the mobile agent moves around as a predecessor (activity working in a previous place) and a successor (activity working in a next place), as seen in Japanese patent application No. 9-92091 filed on Apr. 10, 1997, though not published at the time of filing this application.
However, because split/merge of a mobile agent is possible in various places, such that preparation of a plan in generating a mobile agent is further complicated when this technology is used, a GUI builder which allows a user to easily generate a mobile agent is especially desired.
It is, therefore, an objective of this invention to enable a mobile agent to be developed without requiring a high degree of programming knowledge.
It is another objective of this invention to reduce the labor and the time of developing a mobile agent as far as possible.
It is a further objective of this invention to provide a user friendly environment for developing a mobile agent which allows a developer to intuitively grasp the functions thereof.
This invention allows a mobile agent to specify an executing address and an executing sequence for a job on a visibly apprehensible GUI builder. Provided on the GUI builder are various GUI moderator templates depicting templates (moderator templates) for classifying complicated behavior of the mobile agent into basic behavior patterns and for defining a desired overall behavior pattern of the mobile agent by a combination of the basic behavior patterns, along with various GUI activities for depicting the activity of issuing a request in each place to which the mobile agent moves. The operator can define the executing sequence of a job by dropping the GUI moderator template and the GUI activity on the GUI builder and joining them together. The operator can also set address information for the place where each job is to be executed in the GUI activity. Mobile agents (execution codes) are generated from the GUI moderator template and the GUI activity which have been defined by the operator.
In one mode of this invention, a method is provided for generating at least a part of mobile objects which execute different activities in different places under the control of a mobile moderator agent in a mobile agent generating apparatus which is provided with a pointing device and a display screen, said method comprising;
(a) a step of generating a first GUI activity symbolizing a first activity to display on said display,
(b) a step of generating a second GUI activity symbolizing a second activity to display on said display,
(c) a step of generating a GUI moderator template symbolizing a moderator template defining the connection relationship between said first activity and said second activity to display said GUI template on said display,
(d) a step of holding a first order information specifying the order of said GUI moderator template and said first GUI activity in response to an operator input for correlating said GUI moderator template to said first GUI activity,
(e) a step of holding a second order information specifying the order of said GUI moderator template and said second GUI activity in response to an operator input for correlating said GUI moderator template to said second GUI activity,
(f) a step of displaying an entry for inputting first address information of a first place where said first activity is run,
(g) a step of holding said first address information in correlation to said first GUI activity,
(h) a step of displaying an entry for inputting a second address information of a second place where said second activity is run,
(i) a step of holding said second address information in correlation to said second GUI activity, and
(j) a step of generating at least a part of mobile objects from said first order information, said second order information, said first address information, and said second address information.
In another mode of this invention, a mobile objects generating apparatus, provided with a pointing device and a display screen, is provided for generating at least a part of mobile objects which run different activities in different places under the control of a mobile moderator agent, said apparatus comprising;
(a) GUI activity symbolizing an activity and provided with a display method to display the activity on said display screen,
(b) a GUI template symbolizing an activity and a moderator template defining a connection relationship with another activity and provided with a display method to display the template on said display screen,
(c) an input event acquiring part for acquiring an operator input which correlates said GUI moderator template to said GUI activity,
(d) a plan object operating part for specifying the order of said GUI moderator template and said GUI activity in response to said operator input,
(e) a GUI place object provided with a display method for displaying an entry to input address information of a place where said activity is to run and a setAddress method for holding the address information of the place inputted in said entry, and
(f) a run code generating part for generating at least a part of mobile objects based on said order information and the address information of said place.
In still another mode of this invention, a storage medium is provided for storing GUI objects generating at least a part of mobile objects which run different activities in different places under the control of a mobile moderator agent in a mobile agent generating apparatus which is provided with a pointing device and a display screen, said medium storing;
(a) a GUI activity provided with:
a display method displaying an activity on said display screen in a manner in which it is recognized, and
a predecessor list controlling the connection relationship with other GUI objects,
(b) a GUI place object provided with:
a display method for displaying an entry to input address information specifying a place where said activity is to be run on said display screen, and
a setAddress method for holding an inputted address information, and
(c) a GUI moderator template provided with:
a display method for displaying a moderator template defining a connection relationship between an activity and other activities on said display screen in a manner they are recognized, and
a GUI moderator template provided with a predecessor list for controlling the connection relationship with other objects.
In still another mode of this invention, a storage medium is provided for storing GUI objects generating at least a part of mobile objects which run different activities in different places under the control of a mobile moderator agent in a mobile agent generating apparatus which is provided with a pointing device and a display screen, said medium storing;
(a) a GUI activity provided with:
a display method displaying an activity on said display screen in a manner in which it is recognized, and
a predecessor list controlling the connection relationship with other GUI objects, and
(b) a GUI place object provided with:
a display method for displaying an entry to input address information specifying a place where said activity is to be run on said display screen, and
a GUI place object provided with a setAddress method for holding inputted address information.